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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29626212">Cogs and Queens.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlisonEmbers/pseuds/AlisonEmbers'>AlisonEmbers</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Cogs and Queens [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dungeons &amp; Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Eberron</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>D&amp;D, Dungeons &amp; Dragons 5th Edition, Dungeons &amp; Dragons Character Backstory, Eberron (Setting), Khorvaire (Eberron), LGBTQ Character, Tiefling, Tieflings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:29:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,637</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29626212</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlisonEmbers/pseuds/AlisonEmbers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A non-binary gunslinger known as Mercury makes their way through a harsh world, fighting the law and crime around what corners they stumble.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Cogs and Queens [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2176773</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a weekly series that I am writing, releasing every Sunday/Monday. Week one and two were released on Tumblr already. Designed for 3-5 minute weekly reads.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Cogs and Queens</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Part One</strong>
</p><p>Mercury sat at a round table in the Cogs and Queens tavern in the lower city. They taste the air with a parched mouth, having just escaped another firefight with the Sharn Watch.</p><p><strong><em>Riiiiiip. </em></strong>Mercury sighs, holding their left arm with a newly torn bandage. <em>Bastards got me. Two years they’ve been hunting me down, and in all that time, they only just got me. Pathetic.</em></p><p>“Oi! Can I get ya a fuckin’ ale or what? It’s a fuckin taproom, not a restin’ room. Order or leave!” the hobgoblin bartender says.</p><p>“Look, I’ll fuckin’ drink anythin’, long as it’s under a silver,” Mercury reaches into their thigh-bag, and places the coin on the table, leaning back. <em>Ya got shot. Good fuckin’ job, Mercury.</em> They pull the bandage tight, wincing.</p><p>The hobgoblin walks over holding a tankard of a strange purple mix. “Here’s ya drink,” he slams it on the table, takes the silver coin, and walks off.</p><p>Mercury reaches for the bullet on the table that was recently lodged in their arm. <em>A souvenir. How lovely. </em>“So, what’s new in the world? Any new rumors?”</p><p>“Yeah, fuckin’ rumors all right. Apparently, some rich head up in the top layers of the city thinks lizardfolk should be slaves and started a lizard camp a day out from the city. True or not, somethin’ strange is happenin’ out there cause my delivery men see guards headed that way all the time.”</p><p>“Sounds interesting. Might be worth to fuck over. Free some folk.”</p><p>“Yeah, cause you’re such a do-gooder. Don’t lie Merc, you’ve been comin’ ‘ere for the past year, treatin’ my waterhole as a damn safehouse. You pick on people, no matter if they’re good, or if they’re evil. All that matters to you is the fame of being a wanted criminal, and the right to brag in front of others in your field. I know men like you. You all share the same stupidity.”</p><p>“Well, good thing I’m not a man.”</p><p>“Speakin’ off, what are you anyway? I can’t pin ya for a woman.”</p><p>“I’m just me, Hektar. Nothin’ more to it. I’m just Mercury.”</p><p>“Sure,” the hobgoblin rubs the glass he’s holding clean, squeaking all the way across the room.</p><p>“But seriously, Hek. Thanks for not kickin’ me out. Even if it means I have to pay to be here.”</p><p>“Don’t all taprooms require you to pay before you stay? It’s rule number one, Merc.”</p><p>“No shit,” Mercury chuckles. “You know what I mean.”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>Mercury pulls a small green gem out of their pocket, placing it on the table. A few moments go by, and a guitar materializes where the gem once was. They begin plucking the chords. E, G, B, e, B, G, E - E, G, B, e, B, G, E. (guitar tabs)</p><p>The door kicks in as six guards storm the tavern. “Is she here!?” the head guard demands, looking at the bartender.</p><p>The bartender smirks at them. “This Tavern of mine currently has no female guests. Trust me, I think I’d know.”</p><p>Mercury leans back in their chair, continuing to play their song. “So close no matter how far, couldn’t be much more from the heart.”</p><p>One of the guards scans the room and pulls on the shoulder of the one beside him. “There’s the girl.”</p><p>“Forever trusting who we are, and nothing else matters.”</p><p>“Oi!” the guards shout. “Stop playin’ that shit, or we’ll tear your tongue out.”</p><p>“Never opened myself this way, life is ours we live it our way.”</p><p>The captain walks closer, resting his hand on his rapier. “I said, quiet wench!”</p><p>“All these words, I don’t just say… And nothing else matters.” Mercury sighs, taking their hand from the strings and gripping their six-cylinder on their hip. They watch them approach closer.</p><p>“Oi! I thought you said you weren’t harborin’ any women in your tavern!” the guard at the bar says.</p><p>Mercury giggles to themselves. “He’s not.”</p><p>The first guard unsheathes his rapier, the second one going for his sidearm. The four towards the tavern bar begin drawing their weapons, swords, and daggers to prevent Mercury from escaping. None fast enough for Mercury.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Crack.</em></strong> The first bullet left Mercury’s chamber, leaving the man dead.</p><p><strong><em>Crack.</em></strong> The second who’d bear witness to the deaths while he bled.</p><p><strong><em>Crack.</em></strong> No man was as fast to stop the small, beautifully handsome fiend.</p><p><strong><em>Crack.</em></strong> For their hand was quick, their fingers quicker, none could intervene.</p><p>As the fifth one takes his shot, Mercury takes a step brave.</p><p><strong><em>Crack.</em></strong> None would be the one who put them at the bottom of a grave.</p><p><strong><em>Crack.</em></strong> The sixth held his throat, and Merc looked into his eyes.</p><p>For they knew the poor guardsmen was only taking what jobs would arise.</p><p> </p><p>“From where you’re sittin’, must feel like today was shit luck,” Mercury says, holding the last man dying. “Truth be told, ya took the job knowing what might happen. I’m fairly sure when I go to hell, I’ll see you there.”</p><p>
  <em>Ears ringing, table flying, I’m flying. The wall, it’s no longer there.</em>
</p><p>Mercury lands in front of the bar, propelled across the room by an explosion. <em>What? Who just. Where’s six. </em>Mercury reaches for their sidearm with their left arm, only they can’t reach it. <em>What. Where’s? No.</em> They look across the room, seeing their left arm blown clean off with their revolver still in grip. Mercury tries to hoist themselves up with the aid of their tail, falling forward onto their knees. <em>I can’t. I’m gonna. No!</em></p><p>A man with a long mustache looks down at Mercury. “What luck. Wasn’t expectin’ to see little pink down here,” he looks across the room, blood reaching from their dismembered arm to themselves. “I guess from now on, they’ll call you little pink mist,” he brushes his mustache smiling. “Take it all, boys! Leave no coin untouched. Scavenge the guards, but leave pinky alone. They’ve had a rough day. We don’t want it to get rougher!” he laughs. “Imagine all the things you can’t do with a missing arm.”</p><p> </p><p>The world went black.</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Cogs and Queens</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Part Two</strong>
</p><p><em>When I woke up from my unconscious state, I found my arm had been replaced with silvered metal. I’d say I was upset, crying, or in denial… But honestly, I was just in shock. I’d never been knocked down before, outside of a back room or something, at least. The doc ran some arcane examinations while fusing the arm to my mind and found a secret I had kept from the world. He’d learned that I had a curse on me, a curse that guaranteed my expiration date. I’m lucky he did find out because thanks to the explosion, that date has been accelerated, and every day I don’t find a priest, is another day my life grows twice as short. Dandran, my artificer friend who fixed me up, he repaired my gun. Turned it from a single-action to a double-action with a break loader. I was offended at first, but I won’t lie. Six hasn’t performed so well before. </em>Mercury sketches a small horned figure wearing a cloak with a revolver into their journal.</p><p>“Merc, you ready?” Quinton asks, zipping the fly of his pants while standing at the edge of the tavern porch.</p><p>“Yeah…” <em>Not really. </em>Mercury looks around themselves, seeing four men. <em>Have I really slept with all of them?</em></p><p>“Convoy should be here any moment,” Quinton says. “Get your horses ready.”</p><p>“Why are the Daasks moving on land?” Mercury asks.</p><p>“Quicker to get it to the lower city? Don’t have to go through any official ports.”</p><p>“Makes sense. What’s the asset anyway?”</p><p>“Doesn’t matter. You’re getting paid, and you’re in debt. Better for you to stay oblivious.”</p><p>Mercury looks up at the sky, squinting at small airships. They’ve always hated the city outskirts, with its lengthy fields and dry grass, with no particular places worth stopping. <em>I could do anything for whisky right now. </em>They lick the top of their mouth. <em>I wish I could afford whisky.</em> Mercury walks over to their horse, provided by Quinton and his men. They climb on top, swinging their right foot over first. “I’ll never get used to this.”</p><p>“Too much time in the city, your highness?” Bendrick, the dwarf, says, riding on a horse alongside Mercury.</p><p>“Life in the city is incredibly comfortable! Gamble, smoke, drink, lose an arm… What’s not to love?” Mercury replies.</p><p>“Gonna miss your left hand, I think. You were quite good with it!” Bendrick teases.</p><p>“Yeah, fuck off,” Mercury replies.</p><p>Quinton rides ahead. “All right, boys and Merc, let’s pick up the pace.”</p><p>Mercury follows the men, lingering at the back of the group. They keep a watchful eye out, scanning their back, making sure nobody comes from behind, and keeping a lookout for the law. The pink fiend follows the outlaws over the small mountain, catching a look at the convoy from above. <em>Two carts, one carriage.</em></p><p>“There they are!” Quinton shouts. “Ben, Lars, Jen. You cross to the other side, follow them from the right. I’ll take Merc with me, flanking from their left. You’ll know when to move in!”</p><p>The three men begin riding to the other side of the valley, aways behind to not be seen by the convoy crossing.</p><p>“Quinton! How are we gonna handle this? We going for the carriage?”</p><p>“I’ll handle the carriage. You cover me while I get inside,” Quinton says. “The boys will push up and take what they can.”</p><p>“Got it!” Mercury says.</p><p> </p><p>As they rode on through the valley, the dry grass still kicked dust,</p><p>For it had not rained in many weeks, and the wind blew a gust,</p><p>The pink fiend and their outlaw friend caught up with great speed,</p><p>It wouldn’t be long before Mercury would make more men bleed.</p><p>Mercury unholsters their pistol, aiming it at the cart ahead,</p><p>Not a single tear for mortal men would they ever shed,</p><p>The sound of six the golden gun went echoing through the air,</p><p>And the merry gang began firing without a single care.</p><p> </p><p>Mercury fires off another shot, hitting a man in the shoulder, his cry heard by all as he fell backward into the cart. They watch Quinton jump onto the back of the carriage, now seen up close, completely enclosed with no windows and armored to the teeth. <em>What in the hells could be in there.</em></p><p>Quinton climbs along the side of the carriage to the driver. “Howdy!” he beats them over the side of the head, knocking them off the side. A bullet whizzes past, ricocheting off of the metal carriage, shrapnel piercing into Quiltons shoulder. “Fuck!”</p><p>Mercury pulls away. “You good?”</p><p>“Yeah!”</p><p>Mercury aims their pistol forward again at one of the carts, two more shots cracking out of the revolver. One of the Daask criminals falls out of the cart, and the horse leaps over their corpse. Mercury watches one of the carts begin to be pelted with repeating shots from rifles, sending pieces of wood flying, revealing the men inside. They aim their pistol once more, steading their aim with a deep breath. <em>Okay, Merc, you got this, no missing allowed. </em>They gently squeeze the trigger, their bullet whizzing through the air and colliding with the back of the driver’s skull. “Yee-haw!”</p><p>Bendrick rides closer to the cart, leaping from his horse, landing in the back on top of the dead men. He climbs the divider between the bed and the bench, pushing the dead driver off the side, and pulling the horses over.</p><p>Quinton slows the carriage, beginning to turn. “We got what we came for. Let’s move out before more show up!”</p><p>Bendrick begins turning the cart around, the one ahead of him still taking shots from a far distance, however poor with accuracy.</p><p>“That went easier than I expected!” Mercury says.</p><p>“Too easy. We need to get out of here!” Quinton says. “I don’t want to know who’s gonna show up.”</p><p>Mercury nods, escorting the carriage back through the valley.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>V</strong>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>Mercury leans against the railing out the front of the old tavern. “So, Quinton, you gonna tell me what I just helped with?”</p><p>“I pay you first, and then I can tell you.”</p><p>“Sure?”</p><p>Quinton pulls a pouch from his pack, tossing it to Mercury. “Fifty gold, as promised.”</p><p>“Never doubted you. I’m gonna get that whisky.” Mercury steps into the tavern, the air smelling of straw. “Hey, a whisky for the fiend!” they say.</p><p>“Well sure, that’ll be a gold,” the bartender says, his voice thick and gravelly.</p><p>Mercury flips a coin from the bag towards him and leans against the bar. “So, other than Quinton, any other work around?”</p><p>The bartender fills the whisky glass to the midpoint before placing it before Mercury. “Some artsy folk came through not long ago. Young folk. All optimisitcs. Something about wanting a traveling carnival escort as they move around the country. You up for that?”</p><p>Mercury nods, sipping their whisky. <em>Lord of Dust, my tongue, the euphoria. </em>“Why not, it could be interestin’ traveling with the artsy-” the sound of metal melting by a strange hissing sound rang through the air, and the smell was as foul as sulfur. “Gods, what is that?”</p><p>An explosion sends chunks of metal flying across the front yard of the tavern. “Here we are, boys!” Quinton shouts.</p><p>Mercury steps out, whisky glass in hand. “Not one for subtlety, are you?”</p><p>“Mercury, what you’re witnessing is the day the Everett gang gets rich!” Quinton replies.</p><p>Mercury walks over to the carriage, seeing gold bars inside, stacked on top of one another. Sipping from the whisky, they watch Lars pull a small chest out of the carriage, placing it on a small wooden table.</p><p>Jenson walks over with some picklocks and begins working the chest. “Easy… Peasy!” the lock cracks open, and Quinton lifts the top of the chest up.</p><p>“There they are!” Quinton says. “Shares to the Kundarak Bank of Sharn!”</p><p>“You gotta be fucking kidding me!” Mercury says. “We stole a fucking bank carriage?”</p><p>“Well, technically, the Daask boys stole it, and then we stole it from them.”</p><p>“How did you know they’d have it?” Mercury asks. “Impressive, but this is a big fuckin’ target.”</p><p>“That detail isn’t important. What is important is that we-”</p><p>A gunshot cracks from the hill, and a bullet blows straight through Mercury’s glass of whisky.</p><p>“Get down!” Quinton shouts, ducking for cover.</p><p>“My fucking whisky!” Mercury replies. “Why can’t I ever finish a god damn glass of whisky!”</p><p>The air settles as the gang hide behind walls, barrels, and the carriage.</p><p>“Quinton Everett! Lay down your arms and surrender! You and your gang will be facing trial for crimes against Sharn and her people! Namely, stealing a bank carriage!”</p><p>Mercury flicks six new cartridges into their empty pistol. <em>Living life by the second!</em></p><p>
  <strong>To be continued.</strong>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Part Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Mercury makes their way out of their situation, stuck between a carriage full of gold and a tavern.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is a weekly series that I am writing, releasing every Sunday/Monday. Week one and two were released on Tumblr already. Designed for 3-5 minute weekly reads.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cogs and Queens</p><p>Part Three</p><p> </p><p>Mercury flicks six new cartridges into their empty pistol. <em>Living life by the second!</em></p><p>“If you’re not aware, marshall, we didn’t steal the cart! It was the Daask boys!” Quinton shouts from behind a stone wall.</p><p>“What kinda bullshit is that?” the marshall calls out, riding his horse followed by two other lawmen. “You honestly expect me to believe you?”</p><p>Quinton sits silently for a moment. “… Yeah?”</p><p>“Come on, seriously?” Lars says.</p><p>“Boys, I’ll defend myself to get outta here. I’m not being paid to protect you any longer.”</p><p>“Another fifty gold and a shot of whisky?” Quinton asks.</p><p>“Sure, why the fuck not,” Mercury says.</p><p>“Two rifles on the hill,” Bendrick whispers to the group. “One by the tree, the other next to the large rock.”</p><p>“You got left, I take right?” Jen asks.</p><p>“Sure,” Bendrick replies.</p><p>“I got the marshall,” Quinton says. “Merc, Lars, you take the other two.”</p><p>“Sure,” Mercury says.</p><p>“On three,” Quinton says.</p><p>Mercury holds their pistol towards the top of their cover.</p><p>“One.”</p><p>Bendrick slowly leans his rifle around cover.</p><p>“Two,” Quinton begins inching towards the edge of the cart. “Three.”</p><p>Mercury leans from their wooden cover and fires their six-shooter, planting a shot in the lawman’s chest. <em>One.</em></p><p>Quinton steps out with a slamfire shotgun and begins repeatedly firing at the marshall. The marshall waves his hand in the air as a magical barrier collects the pellets.</p><p>Lars shoots at the other one, missing. He takes a shot to the shoulder, toppling backward over a crate.</p><p>Mercury fans the hammer on their revolver, launching three more bullets at the man who shot Lars. <em>Two down, two shots left.</em></p><p>Bendrick and Jen begin suppressing the riflemen on the hill, shot after shot. The men on the hill return fire, bullets whizzing wide.</p><p>The marshall pulls a sword from his side, leaping from the horse. He begins rushing towards Quinton, the shield still absorbing the pellets.</p><p><em>Well, shit.</em> Mercury snaps the revolver forward, opening the cylinder, and begins rapidly loading four more shots.</p><p>Quinton pulls out his knife, raising his fists. “Let’s go, bootlicker!”</p><p>The marshall swings at him as Quinton barely redirects the sword with his knife.</p><p>“One down!” Bendrick calls.</p><p>Mercury runs towards the marshall, vaulting over a crate, stepping up onto another one, and jumps at him. As Mercury phases through the barrier, they tackle the marshall to the ground, his sword scattering across the dirt path.</p><p>“You pink fucker!” he calls out, trying to throw Mercury off him</p><p>“Not in the way you think,” Quinton says, pumping the shotgun.</p><p>The marshall reaches for the pistol on his side, and with a quick draw, shoots Quinton in the stomach.</p><p>Quinton misfires and Mercury pulls out of the way.</p><p>Mercury punches the gun out of the marshall’s hand with their mechanical arm. They pin him down, saddling him, sitting on his hips. “Goodnight, marshall,” they fan all six rounds into his chest, blood spattering on the dirt and attire. Mercury looks around, noticing the fight to be over, both on the hill dead.</p><p>Quinton leans against the carriage holding his stomach. “Get out of here, Merc. I’ll get in touch.”</p><p>Mercury nods, standing up off the marshal’s corpse. “I’m gonna need that gold.”</p><p>Quinton pulls out another pouch of gold, tossing it to Mercury. “Keep it all. I’ll get plenty from this haul.”</p><p>Mercury takes the pouch and jogs over to their horse. They climb onto the saddle, swinging their right leg over the side, and set for the city. <em>I’m gonna have to lay low… Fuck! I take one damn job from Quinton and he paints a massive red target on our backs. No way was I gonna make it out alive without their help. </em>The wind whips through their jaw-length silver hair, their tail thrashing behind.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>V</strong>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>Mercury sits counting coins in an alleyway, the sounds of steam engines and magic mechanisms whirring through the air at a distance. <em>One hundred and twenty-six gold… </em>They re-pocket their coin and walk towards the edge of the alley. The lower city was so far down it was rare to get sunlight in these areas, the gigantic towers blocking any view. Walking down the street, they see a man wearing a plague mask, calling out to on-lookers.</p><p>“People of Sharn, we are suffering a significant sickness in the world! Every day people struggle to afford their food, their medicine, and their housing. But what if I told you there was a way to pay for it all! Sign up for trials, ones that test untested medicines!” he clears his throat. “You! Pink one! Would you like to sign up for these tests?”</p><p>Mercury ignores them, continuing to move. <em>I really don’t have the patience for this.</em></p><p>The man runs up behind Mercury, placing a hand on their shoulder. “You see, an example of the ignorance of this-”</p><p>Mercury spins, cocking their revolver, planting it on their chest. “Don’t you dare lay your hands on me. Take your snake oil elsewhere, I know how this works.”</p><p>“I- I’m sorry! It won’t happen again!” The man says with raised hands, walking backward.</p><p>Mercury holsters their pistol once more, pushing through the dense streets of Sharn. Eventually, they lay their eyes upon the Cogs and Queens with a new wall, odd colors compared to how it was before the explosion. They push to the door and enter.</p><p>“Nah nah nah nah, what are you doing here again, nah I can’t believe it,” Hektar says.</p><p>“Not happy to see me, Hekkie?” Mercury says, walking back to the table they always sit at, noticing three men playing cards at their table.</p><p>“I thought you were dead, honestly. What are you doing back here?” he says, walking around the bar towards Mercury.</p><p>“I need somewhere to lay low. Thought I could rent a room here. They’ll never suspect me here.” Mercury says, placing a silver coin on the bar along the way. “Whisky, dear Hektar.”</p><p>Hektar takes the silver coin. “Fine, but you can pay double rates. You have no idea the debt I am in to get this place running again.”</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>“You left your guitar here, by the way.”</p><p>“It lived?”</p><p>“In a way. I fixed it up, though it’s not the acoustic that it use to be. I have a friend who knows instruments. It has a more twang sound, but it sounds… Electrifying. I call it an electric guitar.”</p><p>“That’s both the most stupid and coolest thing I have ever heard.”</p><p>“It has a built-in thaumaturgy rune, amplifying the sound.”</p><p>“Well, show it to me already.”</p><p>Hektor rushes off to the storage room. Inside is a series of clanging and grunts before Hektor comes back out with Mercury’s guitar, now modified.</p><p>“An electric guitar?” Mercury asks. “She looks premium.”</p><p>“Give her a play!” Hektor says.</p><p>Mercury takes the guitar from Hektor, holding it to their side. “A little heavier, but not bad,” they begin plucking the strings once more, but the moment they try to shift frets with their left hand, their fingers lock up. “Fuck.”</p><p>“New arm not as good?” Hektor asks.</p><p>“Hard to explain, but essentially I’ll need to build the muscle memory again… It took me a month to learn to shoot again.”</p><p>“I see.”</p><p>Mercury holds the guitar out once more, and in a flash, it drops into a green gem.</p><p>“Wait, it could always do that? It didn’t have to take up so much space in my storage room?”</p><p>“Honestly, I am surprised it kept that property.”</p><p>“Right. For the room? Ten gold, double the price.”</p><p>Mercury shuffles out ten gold pieces and places them on the counter. “The whisky?”</p><p>“Of course,” he pours the bottle into a whisky glass, half full.</p><p>“Thanks. I’m gonna play some dice.” Mercury walks towards the table, kicks a free chair to the side, and sits. “Deal me in, boys.”</p><p>“Hey, you’re that gunslinger, wanted in the upper city, right?” a gruff man across the table says, his beard charred from cigar ash.</p><p>“If you think I am, why the hell not,” Mercury places fifty golds total down, a mix of platinum, gold, and silver coins. They take five six-sided dice from the center of the table and puts them in a cup, shaking it. “Four fives.”</p><p>“Three sixes,” the man with a cigar says.</p><p>“Five ones,” a handsome and muscular man says with dirty-blonde hair.</p><p>“Three twos,” another man with a cow folk hat says.</p><p>All the players roll the dice onto the table, waiting anxiously for the result.</p><p><em>Five, one, five, three, four. One, four, two, two, three. Two, one, one, five, four. Five, four, six, four, two. “</em>Seems I win this bet, boys,” Mercury says, sliding two-hundred golds total to their side of the table.</p><p>“Two hundred and fifty in the pot, youngin,” the man with a cigar says, the smoke puffing from his nose.</p><p>Mercury smiles. “Why are you playing such deep pockets tonight?”</p><p>“I’m not,” the handsome man says. “Don’t quite have the coin for that.”</p><p>“Yeah, I’m out,” the cow folk man says.</p><p>“Fine. Three hundred. You and me,” Mercury says. “Three sixes.”</p><p>“Four sixes.”</p><p>They both shake their cups, rolling the dice onto the table.</p><p>
  <em>Six, six, three, two, five. Four, five, six, six, one… Fuck.</em>
</p><p>“Seems I win it all,” he says, pulling five-hundred golds total to his side of the table. “In for another?”</p><p>Mercury eyes him carefully, their nails scratching across the wooden table before dropping to their lap. “Nah, can’t afford that,” Mercury steps up out of their chair and walks back to the bar, sweeping the hanging coin pouch from the bearded man as he counts the coins on the table. They take another sip from their whisky.</p><p>“Bad luck?” Hektor asks.</p><p>“Always is,” Mercury replies.</p><p>“You really should take better care of yourself.”</p><p>“Why? Gonna either end up dead in an alley or in the middle of a fight soon enough.”</p><p>“Maybe that should encourage you to enjoy what you have left?”</p><p>Mercury nods slowly. “You know what, sure,” they turn to look back at the table, taking a fist to the face as the old man punches them. They recoil back, holding their jaw stumbling.</p><p>“Give it back, bitch!” the man says.</p><p>Mercury frowns. “Give what back?”</p><p>“You took my pouch, fiend!”</p><p>“Oh, surely not,” they say.</p><p>The man takes another swing at them, missing.</p><p>Mercury dodges to the side and lands a punch on the old man’s cheek with their mechanical arm, a tooth flying out.</p><p>The man makes a raging roar as he charges at Mercury, picking them up and throwing them at a glass window.</p><p>Mercury goes flying through the window, shattering the glass and landing on the street outside.</p><p>A crack of a gun comes from inside. “If you’re gonna fight, don’t do it around here!” Hektar yells.</p><p>Mercury pushes through the door once more and locks eyes with the man. “From where I’m standing, you’ve got plenty to worry about already,” they look over to the table he was gambling at, the man with a cow folk hat missing along with all the coin.</p><p>The old man pulls his revolver from his side and rushes out the front door.</p><p>The man with well-toned muscles and short dirty-blonde hair walks back to the bar, leaning against it, smiling at Mercury. “I enjoyed seeing you get thrown around.”</p><p>“Lucky I enjoy being thrown around, I guess…” Mercury walks close to him. “What’s your rate?”</p><p>“Looking for my services?” he asks with a charming smile.</p><p>“Maybe…”</p><p>“Five silver an hour,” he teases. “And please, my name’s Davil.”</p><p>Mercury leads the way to the room they just rented with Davil in tow.</p><p>
  <strong>To be continued…</strong>
</p><p> </p><p></p><div class="">
  <p>(Warning: Continuing to read, you will encounter erotica, described in detail. If you do not want this, do not read it. It will hold no significance to the story and was a practice attempt at writing such scenes, as I have never written one before. It is uploaded on my google drive as a pdf.)</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>
    <a href="https://href.li/?https://drive.google.com/file/d/1phoO_QTqGrQU5cYwRd9W3hOPqugWOgSs/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1phoO_QTqGrQU5cYwRd9W3hOPqugWOgSs/view?usp=sharing</a>
  </p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Part Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is a weekly series that I am writing, releasing every Sunday/Monday. Week one and two were released on Tumblr already. Designed for 3-5 minute weekly reads.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <em>Ding, ding, ding!</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Mercury shifts in the sheets, soaked in sweat from the previous night.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>Ding, ding, ding!</em>
  </strong>
</p><p><em>Shut up… </em>They shift again, pulling the sheets close to their face with their right hand.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>Ding, ding, ding!</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Mercury opens their eyes, seeing the room around them. They try to sit up with their left arm, and it stiffens, the mechanical parts refusing to bend fluently. <em>Fuck.</em> With their other arm, they roll out of bed and begin dressing.</p><p>The door knocks rapidly. “Oi! Merc! You up? Checkout is in ten! You know the rules,” Hektor says.</p><p>“Fuuuuuuuuuck!” Mercury yells, scrambling across the room as they slip on one of their boots, dragging them up to their mid-thigh. They reach for the side-table, taking their revolver, sliding into their holster, which stays peaking from inside their tailcoat. They move towards the door, grabbing the room key, and rush out.</p><p>“Lords, Mercury, you look like you had no sleep last night. You doin’ alright?”</p><p>“My night was fine,” Mercury says, handing the key to him. They walk past, down the stairs. “Anyone come searching while I was out?”</p><p>“Nah, you’re fine.”</p><p>“Thanks for coverin’ me, Hek.”</p><p>“You’re on a thin line, Merc. Real thin. I don’t know why I keep letting you back.”</p><p>“Because I pay extra, and you like to use the coin for your hobbies.”</p><p>“Yeah…”</p><p>“Anyway, gotta run,” Mercury continues out of the small tavern, into the bustling streets. The sound of bells ringing throughout the road, previously heard in the room. <em>Gotta visit Dandran, get this arm fixed.</em></p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>Ding! Ding! Ding!</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Mercury paces to the edge of the walkway, looking over the edge to a lower level with their silver arm placed stiffly on the railing. They begin coughing, feeling their lungs seizing up. <strong><em>Cough. Wheeze. Cough.</em> </strong>They pull their hand away from their mouth. <em>Blood.</em> They pull a small cloth out from inside their coat, wiping it away. <em>This is not good.</em> They continue walking down the pathway, pacing slowly out of precaution.</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <strong>V</strong>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>Mercury pushes open the door to the artificer’s shop. “I need help!” they call out.</p><p>“Merc!?” they hear call back from further inside. “What’s happened?”</p><p>“Arms went all stiff. I can’t get it to loosen up,” Mercury says, the dwarven man walking around shelves in front of them.</p><p>“Come, follow, let us get it checked.”</p><p>“Thanks, Dandran. I owe you one.”</p><p>“You owe me lots. Still haven’t paid your arm in full yet.”</p><p>“I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Don’t be, kid. I know that without my help, you would have died on the streets.”</p><p>“So much faith in me!” Mercury giggles, following into a room with a familiar operating chair, the one they woke up on months ago.</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. Get on the chair, pinky.”</p><p>Mercury slides onto the chair, placing their left arm on the table next to them. “Woke up this morning, found it to be stiff as ever.”</p><p>“What did you do last night?”</p><p>“Fucked.”</p><p>“Right. What about before that?”</p><p>“Stole from the bank.”</p><p>“Fuck me, Mercury. Alright, how did you perform in combat? Stress the arm?”</p><p>“Well, I did do a lot of shooting.”</p><p>“Right… Look, Merc, I’m gonna have to take the lower half off around the elbow. That okay? The only way I am gonna get a better look at the joint.”</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>“If it gets too much, let me know,” Dandran pulls a set of tools from his belt and begins twisting small bolts hidden on Mercury’s arm.</p><p>Mercury turns their gaze, yet still able to see it in the corner of their eye.</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <strong>V</strong>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>“Settle down, Merc,” Dandran says. “You’re in a safe place. Hektar brought you here.”</p><p>Mercury looks around, panicking, seeing the chair covered in blood and a trail leading out of the door. “My arm!?”</p><p>“It’s going to be all right,” Dandran pulls a cork cylinder out of a drawer. “Bite on this.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Bite!”</p><p>Mercury bites down on the cork as they feel a searing heat in their arm socket as the mechanical arm is bound to their body. They squeal in pain, their canines sinking deeper into the cork as they scrape their right-hand nails along the arm of the chair. Tears stream down their face as their cheeks ache, their chest aching and legs weak.</p><p>“I’ve never seen you so pale, Merc… You tried your luck too many times. The world finally caught up to ya.”</p><p>Mercury looks at the silver-plated arm now attached to their body and continue to sob.</p><p>“It’ll all be over soon.”</p><p>Mercury begins to fade out of consciousness, the world falling from their fingers.</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <strong>V</strong>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>“Mercury?” Dandran says, tightening the bolts back in place. “You good? Haven’t seen you so out of it since the second time you woke up.”</p><p>Mercury blinks, snapping back to reality. “I uh- a flashback.”</p><p>“You’re gonna get those. How are the phantom pains?”</p><p>“They come and go. Sometimes worse than other times.”</p><p>“I want to see you more often. Please come back once a month for a checkup.”</p><p>“Sure, Dandran.”</p><p>“I’m serious, Merc. That curse on you is speeding up.”</p><p>“How do you know?”</p><p>“The nose bleed that you’ve yet to notice,” Dandran says, pointing at Mercury’s nose.</p><p>Mercury wipes their nose with the back of their right hand, blood smearing across. “Fuck.”</p><p>“You need to find a priest.”</p><p>“I know. I’ll do it eventually.”</p><p>“No, Mercury. You need to do it soon. You might have six years left on you. Get into another explosion, and you might be halved again.”</p><p>“How do you know how much time I have left?”</p><p>“I don’t. It’s a guess.”</p><p>Mercury nods. “Look, I’ll get to it. In the meantime, I need to find the bastard that took my arm.”</p><p>“You’re still hunting Coltan?”</p><p>“Of course I am. That bastard deserves a bullet to the head.”</p><p>“Revenge is not as-”</p><p>“Don’t give me that, Dandran. Do you know anywhere he could be? Anything new?”</p><p>“Maybe, actually. You know the science fair that’s on once a year in the upper city?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Apparently, there’s going to a prototype gun on display. A hand cranking gun.”</p><p>“Hand cranking gun? What like a lever-action?”</p><p>“No, fully automatic gun, shoots big bullets. At least, that’s what my buddies in the field have said.”</p><p>“And why are you mentioning this in particular?” Mercury pulls themself upright on the chair.</p><p>“Seems like easy pickings, no? Coltan has been expanding his underground empire. Seems like a huge asset with minimal security.”</p><p>“I’ll get on it, then.”</p><p>“Careful, Merc. If he brings all his boys… You might find yourself in a similar position as before.”</p><p>“I’ll be careful.”</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <strong>V</strong>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>Mercury plays their repaired guitar slowly, watching aristocrats walk through the entrance to the science fair. <em>Well, certainly some interesting inventions here.</em></p><p>“This new vehicle has not three, not two, but one wheel! It encompasses the driver inside the device, protecting them from the elements!” the crowd around the inventor claps.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Hey,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You’ve really gone and fucked it up now, haven’t you,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hey,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You really should take care of yourself now,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hey,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I hope the world gets easier for you,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hey, you keep fightin’, but you’re strugglin’.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hey me,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Yeah, me,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You’ve really got it goin’ for ya,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hey me</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Yeah, me,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You’re gonna keep on fightin’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hey me,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Yeah, me,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I’m gonna lose control,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hey me,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Yeah, me,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You’re gonna get yourself killed, </em>
</p><p>
  <em>You know this world isn’t fair at all</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Mercury retracts their guitar back into a gem with a flash and stands straight. They walk by the strange vehicle, looking at another invention, with a small Kobold presenting it. “This device. It cool. Very expensive to make, so not selling. But here to show off. It turn gold to silver. Silver to gold. Other coin too. Yeah.”</p><p>Mercury kneels down, looking at it running through a demo experiment. “Nice invention.”</p><p>“Thank.”</p><p>Mercury drops a gold coin into it. However, it spits out 100 copper coins that flood the tray below it. “Maybe you need to work on it a little more.”</p><p>“Not done.”</p><p>Mercury steps away, waving goodbye to the Kobold. They walk further into the science fair, spotting a large gun with a wheel crank on the side, with a belt of bullets sitting over the barrel. <em>The handlefire Rotary Gun.</em> They admire it for many seconds before a familiar voice through the pathways of the fair.</p><p>“Alright! Let’s get this party on the road, shall we, boys!?” Coltan says, his mustache the same as Mercury saw when they almost died. He points his pistol in the air.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>Crack!</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>“Everyone gets the fuck away, or we start gunnin’ you down!”</p><p>Mercury rushes over, staring Coltan dead in the eyes at the end of the pathway.</p><p>Coltan locks eyes with Mercury, smiling. “Mercury! What. A. Pleasure.”</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>To be continued.</em>
  </strong>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Part Five</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is a weekly series that I am writing, releasing every Sunday/Monday. Week one and two were released on Tumblr already. Designed for 3-5 minute weekly reads.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cogs and Queens</p><p>Part Five</p><p>Coltan locks eyes with Mercury, smiling. “Mercury! What. A. Pleasure.”</p><p>“Coltan,” Mercury says, casually flexing and stretching their prosthetic arm.</p><p>“Nice arm,” Coltan says. “Shame what happened to the first one. You were quite good with it.”</p><p>“I get that more than you realize.”</p><p>Coltan chuckles once. “Right… I’ll be honest, I thought you were dead. Everyone thought you were dead.”</p><p>“I’m immortal, you know that,” Mercury teases.</p><p>“Let’s test that, shall we?” he raises his hand in the air with a whistle. “Boys, take care of my sweetheart, will you? Let’s see how dedicated they are at replacing body parts.”</p><p>One from Coltan’s gang raises his lever repeating rifle, firing at Mercury. Mercury dashes to the side, taking cover behind a steel wall, the sound of metal on metal ricocheting around them as the cracks thunder through the science complex. Screams of fear and panic continue to erupt from civilians as they leave the area, shouting for guards. Mercury leans out from cover with their revolver in hand, firing off two shots at the closest gang member, unfortunately missing.</p><p>As the shooting continues, a small cargo airship rises from a lower level with an odd roar. Its fish-like sails white, and a magic device emanating a blue aura keeping it afloat as steam hisses out from its various pipes. It moves into position above the handlefire rotary gun and lowers ropes. Coltan hooks the gun onto the ropes with his gang’s aid, and the ship begins hoisting it up through a cargo door.</p><p>Mercury ducks out of cover, taking two more shots at Coltan. Coltan moves his arms in the air as magical runes materialize. He disappears in a poof of cloud and dust. “Fuck!”</p><p>Mercury looks up at the airship from behind their cover. They take a deep breath, clenching their teeth. <em>Are you really gonna do this? You’re a fucking idiot, Mercury. </em>They roll out of cover, shooting once at two gang members still on the ground, nailing them both, one in the shoulder, another in the chest. They both collapse onto the floor, one outright dying.</p><p>The airship begins slowly moving towards the edge, hoisting the gun further up in the air. It narrowly moves around buildings to not get it caught or damaged.</p><p>Mercury flicks their revolver forward, switching out the cartridges with new ones. <em>All right. Here it goes.</em> Mercury begins sprinting towards a table, uses it to leap onto a wall of barrels, scales a wall, and begins running across the rooftops.</p><p>As they chase the airship alongside the upper city’s rooftops, a Sharn guard catches sight of them and blows his whistle. “Thief!”</p><p><em>Fuck.</em> Mercury keeps running, vaulting over chimneys and leaping across gaps between buildings, catching themselves on the edge and pulling themselves up into a roll before leaping forward into a run again.</p><p>Within moments, Sharn guards begin chasing through the alleys below, trying to catch up.</p><p>The airship begins to make a turn, leaving out to an area with no way to chase. Mercury picks up their pace, their thighs aching. They leap from the rooftop, outstretching their metal arm, hooking their fingers onto the side, their joint motors overworking as sparks shoot out.</p><p>One hand after the next, the damaged motors in their finger joints whirring, Mercury climbs up the side of the ship. Peaking over the railing, they spot the experimental gun stationed towards the bow of the vessel. They slowly climb along the side, avoiding eyes from the deck. <em>You got this Merc. </em>Stopping at the gun, they climb up slowly and study the deck. <em>Three boys, I don’t see Coltan, though… </em></p><p>They vault over the railing, rolling up to the handlefire rotary gun. One of the men on the ship notices, pointing at Mercury. “It’s her!”</p><p><em>They don’t fuckin’ get it, do they? </em>Mercury begins cranking the wheel on the side of the gun, pointing at them. <em>Wow, this gun is loud.</em> The sound is loud enough to shake the glass lanterns swinging nearby. They tear through the first gang member with the wave of bullets. They then quickly wrap one of the ropes attached to the gun around their mechanical hand, forcing it to swivel. It points at another man, tearing through his body, turning him to red mulch.</p><p>The last remaining ruffian runs down below deck for cover. Mercury raises the gun, swiveling it to aim downwards as it begins tearing through the deck of the airship, shouts coming from below. Mercury tosses the rope, the end hanging off the side of the ship, and releases the wheel they were spinning, bringing the gun to a halt.</p><p>Mercury takes a step forward and finds Coltan appearing in front of them with a poof of smoke as when they disappeared. He lunges forward, grabbing Mercury by the throat, and lifts them off the ground with his left hand, taking them to the edge of the ship. “As soft as the last time I had my hand around your dainty throat, my dear.”</p><p>Mercury wraps their barely working mechanical hand around their elbow, and with enough pressure, snaps the bone.</p><p>Coltan drops Mercury, yelling in pain. He draws his large-caliber pistol from his hip and shoots Mercury in the stomach.</p><p>Mercury falls backward over the railing, catching the rope of the rotary gun just in time. As they fall, their momentum pulls the gun overboard with them. They plummet towards a rooftop, and with nothing to break their speed, they slam against the roof, pain shooting through their body. The gun follows shortly behind, hitting and shambling into pieces as cogs fly to the levels below.</p><p> </p><p>With the guards moving in and the roof soaking red,</p><p>Mercury lay in silence with an in-setting dread.</p><p>“Coltan using magic? He learned this how?”</p><p>But it did not matter for the Sharn moved in now.</p><p>Six bullets left in the cylinder of gold,</p><p>A bullet each plenty for the heart made of cold.</p><p>Like a wolf among sheep, Mercury made it out fine,</p><p>For the shepherd was not around to keep his men in line.</p><p> </p><p>Mercury pushes through the streets of Sharn, keeping a lookout for more guards. The upper city was observed with a closer eye, and evading those who watch was like a gold bar sliding across a dirt trail. They slip through alleyways to the back of a tavern they’d never been to before, and finding an open window, they vault in.</p><p>With blood soaking their coat, they thud onto the ground, laying on their back. <em>Is this it? Is this how I’m gonna die? In a tavern room made for some fucking aristocrat?</em></p><p>“Are… You okay?” a sultry voice asks from the bed. “You don’t look okay.”</p><p>Mercury turns their head, sighing. “Sorry to crash the room, your highness,” they say sarcastically.</p><p>The elven woman lying on the bed sits up, ruffling through their gear. “Honey, I don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into. But I have something that might help.”</p><p>“Oh? An aristocrat like you helping little ol’ me? What do you want me to return for your favor?”</p><p>“Nothing. I just don’t want a dumbass dying on my floor,” she replies. “I’m Elisen.”</p><p>“Mercury.”</p><p>“Well, Mercury, care to hoist yourself onto the chair so I can take a look at that wound?”</p><p>“Can I just lie down?”</p><p>“If you think I’m gonna get on the floor with you, you’re in the wrong place.”</p><p>Mercury leans forward. “What, afraid I’ll bite?”</p><p>“Funny one, handsome,” Elisen says.</p><p>Mercury hoists themselves off the floor, collapsing once more into an armchair. “Take a look, princess.”</p><p>“You’re just the cutest little thing,” Elisen says, standing almost a foot taller than Mercury.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>To be continued.</em>
  </strong>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Part Six</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Google Drive Link for correctly formatted version, includes full NSFW scene, 18+ : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-jnvaN0ui2c-7yUR0BzSNwkpD63Lzhmo/view?usp=sharing</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cogs and Queens</p><p>Part Six</p><p>“You’re just the cutest little thing,” Elisen says, standing almost a foot taller than Mercury.</p><p>“Oh? Am I?”</p><p>Elisen unwraps a leather pouch, revealing medical tools. “So, Mercury, how did this happen?”</p><p>“I tried to get back at a man and failed.”</p><p>“Ah,” Elisen kneels before Mercury, pulling out a pair of tweezers and a scalpel from the leather pouch. “Have you ever been operated on, my dear?”</p><p>Mercury wiggles the damaged fingers on their left arm, hearing the slight whirring of stuck motors.</p><p>“Of course. Is it okay if you take your top off? It will make getting at the wound easier.”</p><p>“Oh, sure,” Mercury slides their coat off and then unbuttons their shirt. They slide it off their shoulders, sitting topless in the chair.</p><p>“Oh dear,” Elisen says. “What happened? Your shoulders…” Elisen stands, looking over them, noticing large bruises on their back, along with scaring and cuts. “Are you okay?”</p><p>“Just the life of a Mercury.”</p><p>“Excuse me, good woman, but getting yoursel-”</p><p>“Please don’t call me a woman,” Mercury says sternly.</p><p>“Ah.”</p><p>“Now, are you going to fix the damn hole in my stomach?”</p><p>“Oh, of course,” Elisen kneels back down and applies pressure around the wound. “You’re lucky it hit nothing important.”</p><p>“Oh, that’s good, minus the blood loss.”</p><p>Elisen pokes around with the scalpel. “Found the bullet.”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>Elisen reaches for the tweezers. She reaches towards Mercury’s stomach, poking them into the wound.</p><p>“Ah, lords!” Mercury screams.</p><p>“You said you’d been operated on before!”</p><p>“I was unconscious, okay!?”</p><p>“Almost got it. Stay sill.”</p><p>Mercury clenches down on the arm of the chair with their right hand, their toes wriggling in pain.</p><p>“Got it!” Elisen pulls back with the metal bullet held by the tweezers. She places her hand over the wound. “By the shine of the flame, heal this poor soul.”</p><p>Mercury hisses in pain as a searing devine burn impales their stomach. They bat Elisen away. “What in Mabar did you do to me!?” they look down and notice that their wound was completely healed.</p><p>“Better?”</p><p>“Divinity.”</p><p>Elisen stands up. “So, where are you off to now?”</p><p>“Honestly… I have no idea. I kind of need a nap.”</p><p>Elisen looks over her shoulder. “Bed’s large enough for two.”</p><p>“It is,” Mercury says.</p><p>“Don’t get any ideas, little devil.”</p><p>“Lady, please. I just got shot, fell thirty feet onto a roof, and cried in pain from divine magic. I just want to sleep.”</p><p>Elisen giggles. “Be my guest,” she gestures to the bed.</p><p> </p><p>V</p><p> </p><p>“What are you doing!? You can’t just leave, *******,” a taller human man says, wearing a black cloak.</p><p>“Stop calling me that, for waste sake!” Mercury yells back, standing in a small doorway.</p><p>“And what of the deal, *******? Do you not care what the headmaster will do to us if you leave? To your own mother and father?” a human woman in purple robes says.</p><p>“Burn for all I care! I want nothing to do with you and this cursed place!” Mercury storms out the front door.</p><p>“*******! Stop! Come right back here, you disobedient child!”</p><p>“The same child you cursed at birth!? Made my life not my own, but a guaranteed pre-paid sacrifice to your patron!? You disgust me, you vial humans! I hate you!”</p><p>Their father rushes towards them, grabbing them by the collar, and starts pulling them towards the house. “You will not leave us. Your life is here. In this sanctuary.”</p><p>Mercury pulls grabs a dagger from their belt and spins around. They cut their father all along the bottom of their arm. “I am not your experiment! Your sacrifice! I will claim a life you deny me!”</p><p>Their father lets go of them, cursing a thousand times.</p><p>Their mother runs out with a look of horror. “How could you do such a thing!?”</p><p>Mercury pulls their ragged coat closer and pushes into the rainy afternoon, ignoring their parents in pain.</p><p> </p><p>V</p><p> </p><p>Mercury opens their eyes, spotting Elisen lying beside them, reading a book. “Where…”</p><p>“Bad dream? Your tail was thrashing around quite a bit.”</p><p>“It’s always bad dreams. You get used to it…” Mercury pulls themselves up, back against the bed head. “Didn’t say anything in my sleep, did I?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Good.”</p><p>“Tell me, Mercury, what is it that you do?”</p><p>Mercury begins laughing.</p><p>“What’s so funny, pinky.”</p><p>“I raid cargo, shoot criminals, get shot, drink alcohol, gamble. That’s what I do.”</p><p>“I see.”</p><p>“The sharn guard is included in criminals, by the way.”</p><p>“Ah.”</p><p>“What do you do? You’re a doctor?”</p><p>“A psychologist. I work in the upper city, and sometimes the skyway. Though I am practicing to be more than a psychologist. These are… practice tools.”</p><p>“Of couuurse you work for the elite. You’re an aristocrat,” Mercury lays their head against the back of the bed.</p><p>“We’re not all bad, you know.”</p><p>Mercury looks at them with dagger eyes. “Really.”</p><p>“I helped you, didn’t I?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Does that not count for something?”</p><p>“Maybe. I don’t know. I haven’t decided if I like you or not… Why are you staying in a tavern if you’re from here?”</p><p>“Ah, in the middle of a divorce with my ex-wife. Better to stay in a tavern away from them, give them space.”</p><p>“How old are you?” Mercury turns to them, legs crossing.</p><p>“Never ask a woman their age. It’s rule number one,” Elisen says, giggling. “Two hundred.”</p><p>“Elves, huh?” Mercury says.</p><p>“Yourself?” Elisen asks.</p><p>“I don’t actually know, and I’d rather not find out,” Mercury lies.</p><p>“Odd. Where were you born? Surely there’d be a record.”</p><p>“Demon wastes.”</p><p>“Oh, you’re a tiefling. Of course.”</p><p>“What’s that supposed to mean? Tieflings cant be born elsewhere?”</p><p>“I didn’t say that!” Elisen yells.</p><p>Mercury smiles.</p><p>The sound of shouting erupts from outside the room. “Find me that fiend! I’ll make an example of it!”</p><p>“This is my queue to leave, princess!” Mercury runs for the window, vaulting out of it into the alleyway once more. <em>Shit. Where do I go from here?</em></p><p> </p><p>They moved on from the alley looking for a way down,</p><p>They sought for another night under the queen's crown.</p><p>Their metal hand was ruined from a hard days fight,</p><p>They’d need to get it fixed before the end of night.</p><p>The Dwarf man would mend it getting further into debt,</p><p>But Mercury would push on hard and never seemed to fret.</p><p> </p><p>“Mercury, when are you going to stop?” Dandran asks, leaning over the railing of the store's porch.</p><p>“Stop what?” Mercury asks, sipping ale.</p><p>“All of it. Theft, taking part in heists, killing people. You need to stop,” Dandran says.</p><p>“Why should I?” Mercury takes another sip.</p><p>“Because you’ll end up dead, Merc.”</p><p>“I’m gonna end up dead soon anyway. Not much time left, right? Tick tock, Dandran.”</p><p>“Listen here, you son of a bitch,” Dandran walks over to Mercury. “You’re like a damn son to me. I taught you all you need to know about this damn city, raised you from when you were a weed. I don’t want all that work dying.”</p><p>Mercury looks at him, taken back. He had never come at them this aggressive before.</p><p>“You should take what life you have left and use it for good. Not wasting your days away,” Dandran begins breathing deeply, trying to calm down.</p><p>“Dandran… That ain’t me. You know it ain’t me.”</p><p>“Mercury, from this day onward, I am no longer repairing that arm of yours. You work out a way to do it yourself or find another artificer willing to tinker with it. If you’re going to get yourself killed, go get yourself killed. I can’t stop it anymore!” Dandran storms into the store, slamming the door behind him.</p><p><em>Really fucked it up, haven’t ya, Merc…</em> Mercury walks down the stairs into the empty street, continuing to drink their ale. <em>Time to buy some equipment, I guess… I could use a drink.</em></p><p> </p><p>V</p><p> </p><p>Mercury watches the street, quieter than usual, out the front of the Cogs and Queens tavern.  As they take a sip of whisky from a small glass, they cough. The liquid turns a vibrant red as strands of blood weave through the liquor. <em>Fuck.</em> They tip out the whisky into the street.</p><p>A black cat runs through the street with a rat in its jaws. Its eyes glow like a candle in the void.</p><p>Mercury sighs, squeezing the glass with their right hand.</p><p>Davil walks out of the tavern, spotting Mercury. “Hey, you okay? Wondering where you went.”</p><p>“Just a mid-life crisis, I’m afraid,” Mercury says.</p><p>“Anything, in particular, going on? Or…”</p><p>“You know that man who took my arm? Yeah, well… I tried to take him on.”</p><p>“How did it go?”</p><p>“Terrible. Got shot in the stomach, killed some men… I did break the join at his elbow, though. So, for what it’s worth, he, too, also has one working arm.”</p><p>“That it?”</p><p>“I fell about thirty feet or something, destroyed an expensive prototype weapon, crashed a rich girl's room, bled on her floor, slept in her bed- not with her, just…”</p><p>They both watch the silent street for many moments, the sound of steam engines and elemental machinery whirring in the distance.</p><p>“I don’t know how you do it, Mercury.”</p><p>“Do what?”</p><p>“Keep fighting. Your life is so complicated. Do you ever think about just settling somewhere with what you got, earning honest money? I mean lords, I’m a prostitute, and that’s a stable enough income here.”</p><p>Mercury turns completely facing Davil, gesturing with open palms.“Well, in my years, you come to learn that the world hates you, no matter what you do. You can make friends, maybe even love someone, but in the end, the elite just fuck ya over and take it all away through exploitation.”</p><p>Davil squints at Mercury. “You look young. Didn’t realize you were so old.”</p><p>“That change your opinion on me?” Mercury teases.</p><p>“Not if I get another taste of cupcake.”</p><p>“Is that so?” Mercury smirks. “Cupcake?”</p><p>“I mean, well, if you get pink icing, you know, you’re pink,” he leans against the outer wall of the tavern.</p><p>“I’m sorry, it seems I am all out of coin,” Mercury says.</p><p>“If I’m the one asking you to sleep with me, shouldn’t I be the one paying you?” he chuckles.</p><p>Mercury moves closer, their tail flicking behind. “A bottle of the cheapest wine you can find, pay for the room, and you have a deal.”</p><p>“Oh, do I now?” Davil says.</p><p>Mercury moves their tail across Davil’s crotch as they walk by, pushing open the tavern door.</p><p>Davil follows behind, ruffling through his pouch for some coin.</p><p> </p><p>V</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Time passes as Davil and Mercury listen to the rain drop into the lower city through gaps above, the cold air wisping through the cracked window they watch out of. Mercury rests their head against Davil’s chest as they sit between his legs. They hold the wine bottle upward to Davil.</p><p>Davil takes the wine and sips from it.</p><p>“You know, I could live in this moment forever,” Mercury says. “Never have to gun sling again.”</p><p>“I’m not gonna comment on that. It’s all your choice,” Davil says, passing the wine back to Mercury.</p><p>“Sometimes I think about leaving…” Mercury takes a sip.</p><p>“Leaving? To do what?” Davil says as he strokes Mercury’s jaw.</p><p>“When it’s over, and Coltan is dead, I might leave to the outskirts. Maybe find a small town to settle down in, become a farm ranger.”</p><p>“You, Mercury, ‘The Pink Fiend,’ horny Mercury. You. You are gonna go out and become a simple farm ranger?” Davil takes the wine, taking a larger sip.</p><p>“What? Just because I like sex, it doesn’t mean I can’t work a farm.”</p><p>“I just can’t imagine an outlaw like you doing such a thing.”</p><p>“The only reason I am even considered an outlaw is because the Sharn guard, who are corrupt, deem me so. The Sharn guard is nothing more than a gang of thugs working for rich thugs.”</p><p>“Have you ever killed an innocent? I’m not going to judge you.”</p><p>“No, never. No member of the Sharn guard is innocent. So don’t even start that.”</p><p>“What about tavern patrons I watched you get into fights with?”</p><p>“They were outlaws themselves! Worse than me too!”</p><p>“True…”</p><p>“Look, if fighting the guard makes me evil, so be it. I embrace it.”</p><p>“You’re not bad, Mercury… Just a different approach might be better.”</p><p>Mercury shrugs, gulping down the last of the wine. “I don’t know. People see a price on my head and want to cash me in. I’m lucky I got you,” they say as they wiggle deeper into Davil’s arms.</p><p>“I think I’m the lucky one,” Davil says, keeping Mercury close.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>To be continued.</em>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Part Seven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cogs and Queens</p><p>Part Seven</p><p> </p><p>Mercury wakes up from the feeling of a hand running between their thighs. They open their eyes, turn to Davil, and smile. “And good morning to you.”</p><p>“Sorry to wake you… But not really,” Davil says, tracing his fingers up their abdomen towards their chest.</p><p>“Having fun?” Mercury teases.</p><p>“Always, with you.”</p><p>Mercury taps them on the nose. “I’ve gotta get moving, I’m afraid.”</p><p>“Of course,” Davil says, pulling back.</p><p>“I’ll probably be here tonight. I always come back.”</p><p>“Make sure you do, okay?” Davil says, running his fingers along their jawbone. “I uh… You know, you’ve been in the city for eight years… I’ve known you for seven of them. Look what I’ve meant to say is-”</p><p>“Hey. Not now, okay?” Mercury says, holding their hand. “You’re shit at hiding it.”</p><p>“Apparently,” he says with a sigh.</p><p>“I’ll be back, always am!” Mercury smiles, their canines peeking from beneath their upper lips.</p><p>“You’re something else, Merc.”</p><p>“I get that.”</p><p> </p><p>V</p><p> </p><p>Mercury lays on a comfortable chair in the lower tavern, their legs folded over one arm. They watch Davil flirt with other clients; as for him, it was a day job. They stare out a window, watching the ordinary person walk by. Families, couples, and people with ordinary jobs. <em>I wonder what it would be like to have an everyday life… </em>They scoff at themselves. <em>It would be terrible. Slaving away dawn till dusk. Fuck that. Would rather get shot at for fifteen gold an hour.</em></p><p>“You okay?” a thick accent asks from out of their view.</p><p>As Mercury turns their head, they spot a tall, muscular orc. “Tal?”</p><p>“Aye!” the orc man says back with a smile, his tusks large and pointy.</p><p>“Tal, it’s been years!” Mercury says, waving at them to come closer.</p><p>“It has! How have you been!?” Tal asks.</p><p>“Well, you know, life really has thrown me through a mixer. New robot arm, destructive outlook on life, you know, good stuff.”</p><p>“Ah, I see,” Tal moves a wooden chair towards Mercury, sitting on it backward, resting his arms on the back of the chair with his chin planted on top.</p><p>“So, what brings you to my kingdom, Tal?” Mercury asks, still resting in the lounge chair.</p><p>“I have an offer you can’t refuse,” Tal says, holding out a scroll of paper.</p><p>Mercury takes it and stretches the paper to its length.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Captain Damon Vanhoutte has specially requested Mister Tal Jonag and Miss Mercury's recruitment for an undercover assignment. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Mission: A rogue warforge, a sentient creature made of wood and steel, has been committing murder on upper Sharn citizens, sneaking in the shadows leaving little trace. Officers have located where the offender has set up a home base and request that the stated assets execute the rogue.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Execution: Set up an ambush at the recently located base, execute the target, and return with evidence of a completed job.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Upon successfully completing the job, a pardon will be granted to Miss Mercury, and Tal Jonag will be rewarded five-hundred gold coins.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>Mercury rolls the paper back up. “I see. So what now?”</p><p>“We accept the job, I get nice pay, and you get freedom,” Tal says.</p><p>“Right. Seems unreal.”</p><p>“This warforge must be some serious issue. Requesting one of Sharns best bounty hunters and notorious criminals to work for them.”</p><p>“I’m not a criminal,” Mercury says, frustrated.</p><p>“You kill Sharn without hesitation.”</p><p>“They’re a mob. Nobody working for them is innocent.”</p><p>“It’s not that simple, Mercury.”</p><p>“It is. If people would stop licking the toes of the men and women on top, we’d all be a little better off,” Mercury looks back out the window.</p><p>“Some people need a boss to tell them what to do. Not everyone knows what they want.”</p><p>“Maybe if they weren’t bossed around all the time, they’d be able to figure it out…” Mercury sighs. “I’ll take the job, get myself pardoned, then ditch this ugly city.”</p><p>“Oi! Bartender! I’ll have whatever two silver will get me,” Tal says, walking away.</p><p><em>Layer upon layer of shit Mercury.</em> They close their eyes, resting in the chair as they hear the faint moving of a bed above them, the creaking of wood drowned out by the patrons inside the tavern. They sneeze, clenching their nose with their right hand. <em>Lords.</em> They pull their hand away, noticing blood again. <em>Keep it together.</em></p><p> </p><p>V</p><p> </p><p>The rain hits hard, the sound of thin metal ringing above.</p><p>“This airbus, is it taking us right to the upper city or what?” Mercury shouts over the sound.</p><p>“Yes! They will deliver us to the Sharn station closest to the operating area.”</p><p>“Right, sure!” Mercury replies, shielding their eyes from the splashes as they look out into the open areas for the airbus.</p><p>The airbus swoops in at a fast pace, the steam churning out the sides as the crystal powering it produces a low droning hum.</p><p>“Alright, here we go!” Tal says, climbing on board.</p><p>Mercury follows behind, climbing on. They feel a sheet of ice-cold rain shiver across their back, and they begin involuntarily shaking.</p><p>“A second in the rain, and you look like a drowned mouse, Merc.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Your hair! Short and fluffy like a mouse.”</p><p>Mercury feels a blush climbing their neck and looks away. “Don’t compare me to a mouse.”</p><p>“Sure thing,” Tal says with a chuckle. “How’s Dandran doing? Been a long time since I saw him. Since he took you in.”</p><p>“He’s… Not on good terms with me right now. I kinda pissed him off.”</p><p>“Shit, Merc. What did you do?” Tal sits down in one of the chairs, facing inwards towards the center.</p><p>“Went after the man who took my arm, fucked up the replacement doing so. He repaired it. The thing is, he repaired it five times since I have had it, and each time I got further into debt. I owe him over five thousand gold.”</p><p>“Why would he repair it if he knew you didn’t have the money?”</p><p>“Didn’t wanna see me die. But now I’ve fucked up, and he doesn’t want any more of me.”</p><p>“Well, with a clear name and no warrant out for you, maybe you can focus your time on earning legit money.”</p><p>“Working in the mines? No thanks.”</p><p>“Anything is better than killing Sharn guards when they get in your way. The more you kill, the worse it gets. Do you not see this?”</p><p>“There’s too much going on in this big city for them to care about me that much.”</p><p>“You’re in for a world of shock, mousey.”</p><p> </p><p>V</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The rest of the way was rather quiet… Watching the rain pound against the window as the airbus sped through the airways to the upper city was oddly calming. While the trip was only thirty minutes, it felt like hours. The lights of different inventions mixed with lanterns on the skyways were like a sea of stars swirling behind the rain.</em>
</p><p>The doors of the airbus open with loud shrieks as steam pour from the joints.</p><p>“Time to go, Merc.” Tal says, stepping out into the rain once more.</p><p>Mercury follows out, keeping their coat tight around them, their gun hidden. <em>It’s so cold.</em></p><p>A few Sharn guards walk towards the two, a man with greying hair stepping ahead. “Tal, you made it. I’m glad. I’m also glad to see you brought the little devil with you.”</p><p>“The agreement is that you would leave Mercury alone.”</p><p>“Yes, and we will,” the Sharn officer says, eying Mercury. “Here’s the directions. You’ll set an ambush for the warforge, and we’ll come in as backup.”</p><p>“Sure,” Tal says, taking the scroll case. He pops it open, moving to cover to read it.</p><p>Mercury stands idly, watching the other guards. <em>Mobsters, all of them. Scoundrel.</em></p><p>“Is that the bitch that killed Hayden?” one of them ask another.</p><p>“Yeah, now they’re working with us.”</p><p>“We should put the devil down now while it’s here. Save us the trouble lat-”</p><p>“Do you want to get shot?” the officer asks his men. “Stay in line.”</p><p>“Okay, I got the directions,” Tal says to Mercury. “Follow me and stay close.”</p><p>Mercury nods, following Tal down an alley.</p><p>“They all hate you, mousey.”</p><p>“I know. They should stop getting in my way if they want to live.”</p><p>“Or you could just not shoot them.”</p><p>“They’re evil, especially the ones that pick on me.”</p><p>“You’re cute.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“You didn’t even respond to me calling you mousey.”</p><p>“Fuck off.”</p><p>“You like it.”</p><p>“No. Look, let’s just get on with this mission,” Mercury says, fighting a blush.</p><p>
  <strong>
    
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>To be continued…</em>
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  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Part Eight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Version with NSFW content:</p><p>https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j5vZqlNF-Vz-6zmDOT7fjOiCZ2vy9-kT/view?usp=sharing</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cogs and Queens</p><p>Part Eight</p><p>Mercury looks over the railing edge in the heavy rain, seeing the sky bridges extending below. Their chest aches as they grip the railing tight with their mechanical arm. <em>I could throw myself from here. One hundred feet down… </em>The storm cracks through the sky, the city tops lighting with a flash. Mercury looks up, the rain washing over their face and soaking their hair as the cold bites them. <em>My face soaking… Nobody can see the tears.</em></p><p>“Come on,” Tal says. “They could be here any moment.”</p><p>“Yeah…” Mercury steps away from the railing.</p><p>“You okay?” Tal asks, loading a rifle.</p><p>“Fucking great,” Mercury lies.</p><p>“Okay. You go up the catwalk. I’ll swing around the front,” Tal says.</p><p>Mercury nods and begins walking for the catwalk. Though the temptation of death was enticing, the possibility for a pardon and not being harassed by the watch was a reason to live. <em>Besides, one of the greater sky bridges would most likely use a spell to reduce my falling speed.</em></p><p>The sound of crates shuffling inside the storage facility echoed.</p><p>Mercury sneaks up, placing themselves against the wall of the building next to a window. They peer in, their pistol unholstering, held to the left of their cheek.</p><p>“My brother, it is so good to see you,” a warforge says to another.</p><p>“Likewise. You will be happy to know that I have enough for two full suits.”</p><p>“Is it good enough to plaster onto ourselves? You have the right parts?”</p><p>“That is what I’m saying! I have already removed the innards. Go ahead, wear it.”</p><p>Mercury watches one of the warforge pick up the hollowed-out head of a dead man and stretches the skin over its head. <em>Lord, what the fuck.</em></p><p>“Ha ha, you look like a human, brother.”</p><p>Mercury aims the pistol at one of them. <em>And I thought what I was doing was bad</em>. Just before Mercury pulls the trigger, a third one brings in Tal, dragging him along by the collar. “Oh fuck.”</p><p>“We have another body to use, my brothers!” it says, throwing Tal into the middle of all three of them.</p><p>Tal gets up, punching at the closest one, and misses.</p><p>“A fighter this orc man is.”</p><p>“You will be a fitting skin for my stee-” The crack of gunshot echoes through the facility, blasting one of the warforge’s heads in two.</p><p>Tal rolls towards the one that was shot, grabbing his rifle back. He points it at another but takes a foot made of iron to the face.</p><p>Mercury crashes through the window, glass spraying the inside of the building. They fire twice more at the closest one but miss both shots.</p><p>It charges Mercury, with inhuman ability leaping up onto the catwalk. It knocks the pistol aside out of Mercury’s hand and grabs them by the shoulder. “What are you?”</p><p>Mercury wraps their tale around its leg and tackles forward, knocking it through the catwalk's railing, landing down on the ground with a hard crash.</p><p>Tal gets thrown across the room by the other one, slamming him into shelving. He gets back up, holding his shoulder. “That all you got!?”</p><p>Mercury starts punching the warforge with their mechanical arm repeatedly.</p><p>The warforge throws Mercury to the side, and stands up, their wrists rotating in a full three-hundred-and-sixty degree turn.</p><p>Mercury runs back towards the shelving behind them. Just as the warforge leaps in a lunge, fist in the air towards them, Mercury swings a long steel pipe forward with their mechanical arm, impaling the constructed man. Its eyes flicker with a sad glow before it falls limp.</p><p>“Get – The – Fuck – Off – Me!” Tal says after every punch to the face from the last warforge. Mercury runs over and tackles them to the side, latching on, but not good enough as they are propelled further.</p><p>Just as Tal raises a metal pipe to beat the warforge, the doors slam open, and the guard begins rushing in. One of them uses a lightning spell, shocking the construct in place.</p><p>It screams in pain as the lightning fries their internals, and the guards begin tieing it up.</p><p>Mercury hoists themself off the ground, watching it happen. They instantly begin walking at a fast pace to where their pistol fell from above. They spot Tal talking with Captain Damon Vanhoutte, watching a pouch of gold fall into Tal’s hands. They pick up their gun from beneath the catwalk and holster it again.</p><p>“Mercury, you did good,” Tal says.</p><p>“What the fuck was going on here, Tal? They were killing people to make custom human suits? What the fuck.”</p><p>“It’s pretty gruesome,” Tal says, ruffling his hair.</p><p>“Never seen anythin’ like it, and I came from the demon wastes.”</p><p>“Yeah, I don’t really want to look at it. It’s making me feel green.”</p><p>“You are green,” Mercury teases, pressing their shoulder into him.</p><p>“Fuck off, mousey.”</p><p>“Hey!… What now?” Mercury asks. “Am I pardoned? Good to go?”</p><p>“They’re not shooting you, are they? Not arresting you?”</p><p>“No,” Mercury says. They watch the guards nearby closely. “So, we getting out of here or what?”</p><p>“Sure. We can use some of the gold to rent an apartment nearby?” Tal asks.</p><p>“Sure…” <em>I promised Davil I’d be back tonight… Ugh… I’m sure it will be fine.</em></p><p>“Follow, mousey.”</p><p>“I told you to stop calling me that!” Mercury says, their neck burning as they walk out of the storage complex back into the cold open rain.</p><p> </p><p>V</p><p> </p><p>Tal sits down across from Mercury in the high-up apartment, the rain pelting against the outer window. The warm flicker of the lanterns was welcoming. “Your skills are just as impressive as I remember!” he says.</p><p>“Thanks, Tal. You’re not so bad yourself. A little rusty, slow, but all round a good bull,” Mercury laughs. “So, come Tal, tell me about your life! How’s Kal holding up? Last I heard, she was trying to become a doctor.”</p><p>“She is a doctor!” Tal says with excitement. “She studied well, and now she’s working for a clinic in the lower city. Bad kinds down there, but she wants to help the poor and innocent.”</p><p>“Anything to help the poor and innocent,” Mercury says, taking a sip from their wine. “This tastes like shit, bring anything else?”</p><p>“What? Whisky?” Tal laughs. “Yeah, I got some. It’s special, though!”</p><p>“Oooh, really hyping it up now, are ya? Fuck me,” Mercury giggles.</p><p>“Haa-haa! I mean, if you insist!” he ruffles through his bag, pulling out an expensive bottle of whisky. “Mama told me that one day I would need to make peace with someone I had wronged, and she gave me this bottle. I think it was destined for you.”</p><p>Mercury looks at the label of the glass bottle. “You’re kidding. That’s sixty-year-old brew.”</p><p>“I’m sorry about our reunion. Didn’t contact you for almost six years, and I approach out of the blue for a job.”</p><p>“Ahhh, don’t worry about it. I probably would have gotten you into trouble. You might have gotten beat up,” Mercury lets out a chuckle. “Remember that one time you tipped over the cart, and I broke my fingers?”</p><p>“Yes! Of course! Mama would never let me forget that. ‘That young Mercury probably would have married you if it weren’t for you breaking their wedding ring finger!’ she’d say.” He places a glass before Mercury and pops the cork on the whisky. “Just to think! Sixty years brewing and another forty sitting in the cabinet, just to be drunk by us!” he pours Mercury a glass. “I see you lost that arm. Recent?”</p><p>“Three months, I think. You know you lose count quick…” Mercury gently picks up the glass. “To broken fingers and missed opportunities!”</p><p>“Ahh, to drinking one-hundred-year-old whisky!” he downs his in a flash.</p><p>Mercury slowly sips from theirs. “It’s good.”</p><p>“Ah! Right!?” he wipes his mouth with his arm.</p><p>Mercury drinks the whisky down to a fingernail deep before tipping it along the gun. “Time to clean you off.”</p><p>“Eyy! That’s exquisite whisky!” Tal says.</p><p>“Which is why it’s gonna clean off my gun.”</p><p>“Khorvaire, not letting you get any more whisk-”</p><p>Mercury snatches the bottle from their hand and begins gulping it down. They lower it slowly from their lips and lock eyes with Tal, their cheeks beginning to burn.</p><p>“Careful, Mousey. You’re getting dangerous,” Tal chuckles.</p><p>“Tal, would you wanna…” Mercury bites their lip, looking down in embarrassment.</p><p>Tal leans forward, placing his whisky on the table. “Like old times?” he chuckles.</p><p>Mercury places their hand on the table. “Yeah.”</p><p> </p><p>V</p><p> </p><p>Mercuy’s eyes shoot open, finding themselves alone in the room. They swat their left arm to the side, grabbing a note and a small pouch left on the bed.</p><p><em>“Good luck, sweet tief… I’m sorry.”</em>  </p><p><em>Oh, for fucks sake.</em> Mercury rolls out of bed, rapidly dressing as they hear the footsteps of many men walking through the hallways. They slam in six cartridges into the cylinder of their revolver, slapping it on the side to listen to it click. As they throw their coat on, a loud knock comes from the apartment door.</p><p>“Sharn Watch, open up!”</p><p><em>Fuuuuuuck. </em>They point the pistol at the door. <em>Five? Six? Not worth it…</em> They move towards the window, looking outward to see a cargo ship taking off twenty feet below. <em>Ah-ha-ah… Yeah, you’re doing this.</em> Mercury runs to the apartment door and then runs full sprint at the window, shooting it four times before it breaks the magical barrier placed. Mercury leaps past the threshold of the window and begins falling, but not before a well-placed shot by a veteran guard finds its way into Mercury’s lower back.</p><p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Part Nine and Ten</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cogs and Queens</p><p>Part Nine</p><p>The glass fell around Mercury, a trail of blood following from behind, the bullet resting in their lower left hip. <em>I knew something wasn’t right. No certificate to pardon me when the job was done. No way to confirm what Tal was doing was legit. I trusted him. </em>They hit the deck of the airship with a loud thud, the planks of wood rattling Mercury to the bone.</p><p>“Get someone onto them!” one of the Veterans shout.</p><p>Mercury rolls over onto their stomach and begins crawling towards the stairs leading down below deck.</p><p>Multiple crewmates of the ship back away from Mercury, keeping a close eye on them, whispers from their lips directed at one another.</p><p>Mercury crawls down the stairs slowly, eventually hoisting themselves on the railing. They walk carefully, their legs wobbly, their back in intense pain. <em>How am I going to get this fixed?</em> They look around the deck as many men and women watch cautiously. Mercury hobbles towards some large crates marked with the Jorasco symbol, a family known for healing supplies operating in the upper city. They grip around the edges of the lid with their mechanical hand, ripping it off with a crunch. <em>A single potion? It’s small, but it will help.</em> They grip the small potion, and apply the liquid to the area of the wound. It sizzles as the skin slowly grows into place, and Mercury lets out a pained moan. They close their eyes as footsteps come towards them from behind.</p><p>“Mercury, you got out,” Tal says, shocked.</p><p>Mercury swings around, their canines showing with intimidation. “What the fuck was that, Tal!? You snitched on me!?”</p><p>Tal raises his hands. “It’s not what it looks like.”</p><p>Mercury steps towards them, their eyes narrow, their limp suppressed from adrenaline. “It very well fucking is what it looks like! Money too good, huh? Fuck me one night, fuck me over in the morning? Burn in hell!”</p><p>“Mercury, what did you expect me to do? Put my life on the line to try and save yours?”</p><p>“Yes, actually!” Mercury cries, tears forming at the corners of their eyes.</p><p>“Fuck! That ain’t the type of man I am.” Tal says, stepping back.</p><p>“Fucking clearly. Get a taste of sweet nostalgia, get paid for it, and dip,” Mercury says.</p><p>“Look. I’m sorry. You got away, right? I knew you would! When we get to the lower city, you can go back into hiding.”</p><p>Mercury grunts in pain as they feel their hip. They look at their mechanical hand, blood staining the silver. “Got away?” Mercury says, shaking the blood from their hand onto the floor.</p><p>Tal moves closer. “Let me get a look at that.”</p><p>Mercury whips their revolver from their holster, aiming it at Tal. “I think you’ve had enough time to look at me.”</p><p>“Mercury, please, don’t be like that,” Tal says, his hand slowly moving for his rifle slung around his back.</p><p>Mercury aims at Tal’s hand, and as they pull the trigger, Tal dodges to the side, the shot echoing through the deck.</p><p>He rotates his rifle around his torso into his hands, taking a shot at Mercury.</p><p>Mercury slides behinds a steel table, kicking it sideways, the bullet inside the wound throbbing. <em>Fuck!</em></p><p>“Mercury, please! It doesn’t have to be like this!” Tal shouts, loading another bullet into his lever-action rifle.</p><p>“You’re a corporate shill! A fucking rat!” Mercury calls from behind the table. “You know what I think about men like you?”</p><p>“Mercury, if you were in my position, you would have given me up too. The money <em>was</em> too good,” Tal says.</p><p>“I’m starting to wonder if you ever really knew me!” Mercury slides out of cover on their right, fanning the hammer of their revolver three times.</p><p>Tal ducks behind a steel post, the clang of bullets ricocheting into the wood walls, floors, and roof around him. He ducks back out, taking two shots at Mercury as they run for another steel post.</p><p>Mercury cracks the revolver forward, loading new bullets to replace the expended ones. They slow their breathing, listening out for Tal. A creak comes from around the post, and Mercury ducks out, firing twice with both hands on the grip.</p><p>Tal dodges out of the way and grabs Mercury’s right wrist. With his more immense strength, he throws Mercury down, their revolver flying out of their hands.</p><p>As Mercury meets the ground, their wrist makes a loud snap, and the bullet lodged in their hip disturbs and opens the wound. Mercury lets out a sharp yelp, squirming on the floor pinned, their tail thrashing like an animal caught in a bear trap.</p><p>“Mercury. Stop. Please. I just broke your right wrist. If you plan on knowing what the sensation of touch is like for a while longer, I beg you to stop.” Tal rests his knee on Mercury’s stomach, pinning them down further.</p><p>Mercury launches their mechanical fist into Tal’s temple, knocking him sideways.</p><p>Tal rolls over, holding his forehead. “Mercury! Stop!”</p><p>Mercury looks at him, tears streaming down their cheek, blood soaking their coat. “I can’t believe you…” Mercury says, broken. “Kill me here. Now. Get it over with.”</p><p>“No,” Tal says.</p><p>“Coward,” Mercury says, sniffling.</p><p>Tal stands up and walks to a storage crate. “When the ship lands, I’m taking you to my sister. She’ll know how to fix your fleshy wrist.”</p><p>“I’d also appreciate this bullet getting out of my fucking hip,” Mercury says, their voice cracking.</p><p>“Glad I gave you that Whisky, Mousey,” he says, pulling out a brown cloak from the crate.</p><p>Mercury rolls their head to face the ceiling, water streaming to the floorboards beneath them, mixing with red. “I can’t fucking believe you ratted me out.”</p><p>“I’ll give you half the gold,” Tal says, wrapping the cloak around Mercury. He unloads the revolver and pockets the ammo. “Believe me, I’m sorry this happened.”</p><p>
  <em>I don’t believe you for a second.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>V</p><p> </p><p>Tal carries Mercury through the house’s front door, the cloak hiding their identity. “Kal!” he calls out.</p><p>“What!?” a woman calls from another room.</p><p>“I have Mousey! They’re hurt!”</p><p>“Mousey!?” Kal calls out.</p><p>“Mercury is here!” Tal says.</p><p>A half-orc woman comes rushing from the room over, the same height as Tal. She pulls the hood of Mercury’s temporary cloak back, revealing their sad eyes and pale face. “What happened?” she asks, looking up at Tal.</p><p>“We got into a bit of a fight. I went a little far. They also got shot in the back from a guard.”</p><p>Kal takes Mercury into their arms, holding them like a child. “C’mere, honey.”</p><p>Mercury closes their eyes. <em>I can’t fucking believe him.</em> Kal begins to walk while carrying them, entering a room with a nicely made bed, expensive cabinets, and dragon-themed tapestry.</p><p>Kal takes them over to the bed, laying them down gently. They move across the room and begin sifting through a cabinet.</p><p>“Kal… He rat me out to the guard,” Mercury says, their voice shaky.</p><p>“He fucking what?” Kal asks, placing a beaker onto a metal tray.</p><p>“I trusted him like…”</p><p>“Like what?” Kal asks with frustration building in their voice, placing a syringe onto the metal tray with other alchemical liquids.</p><p>“I don’t know. He’s not like a brother… Fucked too many times as a teen for that. Last night too.”</p><p>“My asshole brother fucked you last night and then snitched?” Kal asks with a face of rage.</p><p>“Yeah,” Mercury says, closing their eyes.</p><p>“Tal! You asshole!” Kal yells. She mixes a blue liquid with a red one inside a beaker, creating purple bubbles that float to the top, yet the two mix like strands refusing to bond.</p><p>Tal walks in with a look of shame coated across his face. “Yeah, look, I know.”</p><p>Kal pulls out some fine thread and a needle. “You don’t do that to somebody, Tal! That’s fucking abusive and evil!”</p><p>“The guard offered me five hundred gold,” Tal says.</p><p>“Honestly, I’d akin it to assault!” Kal yells, pouring a yellow liquid into the beaker mix, making all the liquids bond together.</p><p>“When you put it like that…” Tal says, looking away.</p><p>“You look at me when you speak!” Kal says. “You don’t do that. If you had just sold them out without the sex the previous night to gain their compliance, I would have been disappointed. But I am beyond disappointed with you. How the fuck do you think Mercury feels knowing their life is worth five hundred gold to you?” Kal looks down at Mercury, their eyes streaming with water again.</p><p>Mercury clears their throat. “Can you tell Tal to leave the room?” they say in a low broken voice to Kal.</p><p>Kal nods. “Get out.”</p><p>Tal nods, leaving the room. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“I’m going to roll you over so I can get a look at the wound, okay? Your wrist is going to hurt more while moving,” Kal says, threading the needle.</p><p>Mercury nods and rolls over with the assistance of Kal, their right wrist throbbing in pain.</p><p>“Well, it could be worse,” Kal says. “Stay still.”</p><p>Mercury feels something cold press into the wound. They shriek, feeling the bullet rip through the burnt flesh from the potion.</p><p>“Good…” Kal says. They begin threading the needle through Mercury’s wound, hearing them whimper, and she starts tightening the opening, sealing it shut. “Okay, I need you to roll over again, sweety.”</p><p>Mercury rolls onto their back again, their right wrist throbbing once more, feeling it in their elbow.</p><p>Kal places the end of the syringe into the beaker, drawing out a large amount of liquid. “I am going to inject this into your wrist. It will make it heal quickly,” they grab a large cylinder of cork. “Bite down on this. It’s going to hurt more than it did breaking.”</p><p>Mercury bites down on the cork, and as Kal slides the syringe into Mercury’s wrist, they scream loudly as tears continue to drop down their face. They grip the sheets tightly with their metal fingers, the motors whirring in each joint—their tail curls in the blanket, tighter and tighter. The world around them grows darker as their vision narrows onto a reflection above them on the roof. Their eyes shift color from a gray human iris to a deep void black. Whispers from an unknown origin begin to fill the room, and the lanterns nearby begin to flicker from an orange glow to a dim silver light.</p><p> </p><p>Everything was black.</p><p>“You’re not supposed to be here. Not yet, at least.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Cogs and Queens</p><p>Part Ten</p><p>Mercury’s consciousness comes back to the realm, Kal screaming at Mercury’s face, Tal panicking in the corner of the room.</p><p>“Wake the fuck up, god damn it! Don’t die on me! Wake up!” Tal screams.</p><p>Mercury coughs, turning on their side, vomiting off the bed, a stream of blood mixed with bile landing on the floor.</p><p>“Oh, thank gods,” Kal says. “Your pulse stopped. I thought you were gone!” they brace themselves against the nearby wall.</p><p>Mercury looks up at Tal with watery eyes. “The fuck you doin’ here?”</p><p>“I’m glad to see you ali—”</p><p>“Fuck off, Tal,” Mercury says, rolling back onto the bed.</p><p>“Are you okay? How do you feel?” Kal asks, holding Mercury’s cheek.</p><p>“I had a bad dream when I apparently flatlined.”</p><p>“You sure you didn’t go to the afterlife?” Tal asks.</p><p>Mercury reaches for the scalpel holstered on Kal’s chest. They whip it across the room at Tal, shattering against the wooden frame next to him with lightning speed.</p><p>Tal backs away through the door, his hands raised.</p><p>“What about your wrist? Is it still in pain?” Kal asks.</p><p>“I can feel it, but it doesn’t hurt. What did you do?” Mercury replies.</p><p>“I injected a mix of medicines into your wrist, which will influence the bones to heal faster,” Kal says.</p><p>Mercury raises their arm, looking at their wrist. “I can’t move it. I mean. Not that I’d want to. But it’s not flopping around.”</p><p>“Magically in place. With a spell. It’s set to release in two days when it should be healed.”</p><p>“Thanks…” Mercury says. “I need to get out of here. I need to get home,” Mercury hoists themselves up with their mechanical arm.</p><p>“Try to rest until it’s healed. Please.” Kal places a hand on their shoulder.</p><p>“I have one thing I need to do before I rest…” Mercury moves to the side they didn’t vomit on, and with their mechanical hand, breaks their revolver forward. They reach in behind their back under the coat, feeling for a pouch of ammo. They take out a single bullet and load it into their gun.</p><p>“Mercury, please,” Kal says. “Don’t do this.”</p><p>Mercury cracks the revolver back and walks around the bed. They head for the doorway cocking the hammer of their gun. As they walk into the hallway, they spot Tal sitting at a table in the kitchen. Mercury points their gun at them, eyes full of fury.</p><p>Tal raises his hands, squirming back in his seat. He falls out, tumbling backward, hitting his head on the bricks of a fireplace behind him. He looks up at Mercury, fear in his eyes. “No, please, I’m sorry!” he yells, looking at his gun across the room.</p><p>“Get the fuck out of Sharn by morning, or I’m coming for you!” Mercury shouts.</p><p>“What? Where do you expect—”</p><p>Mercury screams in frustration, tears streaming down their face. “Fucking leave gods damn it!”</p><p>“I’ll be seeing you,” Tal says with a straight face.</p><p>Mercury kicks the table over, landing on Tal, and storms out of the room. They push through the front door out onto the street, tears streaming down their face.</p><p> </p><p>V</p><p> </p><p>Mercury sank deeper and deeper into the cold water. Life had been a mess for them, and every day brought increasingly tricky struggles. <em>I wonder how Quinton’s doing… Haven’t seen ‘em since I fled. </em>Their bottom meets the flooring of the deep stone tub, their eyes tight shut.</p><p>A vision comes to them, a dream, though not quite. Mercury finds themselves standing in a wheat field, grain growing to knees height. They spot a newly painted farm house, with an older man out the front hacking away at wood. Two small pink tieflings come running out of the house. “Mercie, Merry! Behave!” a familiar voice calls from inside the house.</p><p>Mercury begins walking towards the farm house, pushing their way through the fields of wheat. <em>That’s not…</em></p><p>“Come here you two!” the voice calls, an older pink tiefling with a small frame rushing out the door.</p><p>“Mom! Can we go to the markets today!?” one of the twins call.</p><p>“Mercie, not today, we already told you we can on weeks end,” the older tiefling says, kneeling to them.</p><p>“But moooom, I wanna get apples!” Mercie says.</p><p>“We have apples inside, sweetie.”</p><p>“They’re green!” Merry says. “I want red!”</p><p>“Mercie, Merry… Please. If you behave and wash your clothes, I’ll add some extra spice into tonights stew.”</p><p>“Okay!” the two children shout, and run back inside.</p><p>The figure turns out looking across the field, locking eyes with Mercury, yet seeing right through them. They pull their hood and cloack back, revealing their mechanical arm and identical yet older face to Mercury.</p><p>Mercury opens their eyes, gently feeling the bottom of the tub, using their tail to propel them back up towards the surface.</p><p>“I was worried for you,” Davil says from Mercury’s right.</p><p>“Oh, Davil!” Mercury scurries out of the tub, over the edge, their tail making up for their broken wrist. They launch into Davil’s arms, smiling as tears stream down their cheeks. “I asked for you, but you were working.”</p><p>Davil gently pets them on the back of the head. “Are you okay? What happened.”</p><p>“Remember Tal?” Mercury asks.</p><p>“Tal?”</p><p>“The half-orc who showed me around when I first came to Sharn,” Mercury says. “He introduced me to Quinton? Use to ride with the gang a few years ago?”</p><p>“I remember,” Davil says.</p><p>“Fucker broke my wrist. He hurt me bad. He used me. In more ways than one,” Mercury says nervously.</p><p>“Gods damn, Mercury. What did I tell you?” Davil hugs them tight, their wet body soaking into Davils clothes.</p><p>Mercury cries into their shoulder for many minutes, Davil tearing up himself, for he had rarely seen Mercury in such a state.</p><p> </p><p>V</p><p> </p><p>Mercury lays tucked tight against Davil’s chest, watching the lantern light shimmering in through the windows. “I wish it was moonlight.”</p><p>“Would you like that?” Davil asks, sroking their cheek.</p><p>“Yeah. I would.”</p><p>“Take a break from this life, Mercury. Spend a few weeks with me. Come with me out of town, leaving Sharn for awhile. We can go to a small town and rent a room there. Get a different pace for awhile.”</p><p>“I’d like that,” Mercury says, their tail coiling around Davil’s leg.</p><p>“I’m glad,” Davil moves his hand down from Mercury’s check, resting his hand on their upper belly.</p><p>“You know… I think I might want kids one day,” Mercury says nervously.</p><p>“You want kids?” Davil asks surprised.</p><p>“Yeah. I mean. I can dream… But this curse on me… I don’t know if it will let me… If I can find a way to fix myself. Maybe that’s something I can do.”</p><p>“Let me get this straight. You? I mean. What would you want your kids to call you?”</p><p>“Mom. I don’t care if it’s inheritly gendered. I just think it’s nice. Claim it for myself,” Merucry says.</p><p>“Crazy. Mother Mercury. Mommy Mercury. Mamma Mercury,” Davil says giggling.</p><p>“Okay, stop!” Mercury replies, laughing. “I live every second like it’s my last… But it doesn’t hurt to dream once in awhile.”</p><p>“I love you, Mercury,” Davil says. “I don’t want to loose you.”</p><p>Mercury rolls their head to look at Davil, a smirk on their face. “I know, Davil… I don’t know I can promise to live…”</p><p>“Just don’t try to die, okay?” Davil asks.</p><p>“If anything happened to you… If anyone hurt you… I’d not stop until they were dead.” Mercury says. They lean up, kissing him, and roll back into being little spoon. <em>Two weeks outside of Sharn. Never been away for more than a night… Not since I came here.</em></p><p> </p><p>V</p><p> </p><p>Mercury slowly moves across the room, looking out of the top floor naked. <em>What does it mean? I was where early? The curse? Kal said I flatlined… I was dead…</em></p><p>Davil gently wraps his arms around Mercury from behind. “So when did you want to leave?”</p><p>“End of week?” Mercury asks. “I promise to rest until then. I won’t go out looking for a fight.”</p><p>“I trust you,” Davil says.</p><p>“I trust you too…” Mercury replies. They try to flex their right wrist, yet remains completely fixed.</p><p>Mercury closes their eyes, leaning backwards into Davils chest, taking a deep breath in, and taking the moment to think.</p><p>
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    <em>To be continued…</em>
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